Garden Project fundraiser Journalism lecturer Don Menn commented for a Feb. 22 San Francisco Chronicle report on a fundraiser for the Garden Project, a rooftop garden atop the Tenderloin Community School. Asked about music as a vehicle for getting people involved, Menn said, "Music has become a replacement for religion. It's a social binder, because it affects the mind, the body, the ears." On the subject of celebrity endorsements of philanthropic causes, Menn answered, "…A lot of their (celebrities') involvement appeals to the heart but doesn't always generate action."

Warming relations A Feb. 20 special report in the San Francisco Examiner about ties between San Francisco's Chinatown and mainland China featured numerous insights by Political Science Lecturer David Lee. "Both Taiwan and China view this overseas community right here in San Francisco Chinatown as the most important place to shape hearts and minds and to shape public opinion in America," Lee said. While some fear the growing closeness between the People's Republic of China and the U.S., Lee is more optimistic, adding, "You can have economic development, intellectual exchange, cultural exchange and human rights dialogue. Just because you’re doing business with China doesn’t mean that you have to accept everything."

Pennywise cuts Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Development Amy Conley wrote an op-ed about the long-term costs of proposed cuts to the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program that appeared on AOL News, Feb. 23. "Cuts to WIC might work with voters in the short term by delivering immediate and visible spending reductions, but they will cost us in the long run… when it comes to nutrition, a child's first five years last a lifetime," Conley wrote. "The types of nutritional assistance provided and promoted by WIC are key to brain development." Conley added, "…undoing damage caused by poor early childhood nutrition is more difficult than providing a nutritious diet in the first place…poor nutrition during sensitive periods of development can alter children's developmental trajectories…(which) can result in cognitive impairment, as well as behavioral emotional problems."